storyboothfandomcom-20200215-history
My Best Friend Betrayed and insulted me - Anti Semitism
https://youtu.be/55GZ41qPQ3w Growing up Cian was always the "different" kid. The reason he was so unique was that he was the only Jewish kid living in an almost totally Christian town. There were only three Jews in the entire middle school of six hundred students. That's about zero point three percent. Of course, everyone knew that Cian was Jewish, and most everyone was totally cool with it, even if they didn't really understand it. He had lots of friends and a whole group of best friends in his class, but there were those kids, and those times, when he was the on the receiving end of some really insulting and awful anti-semitic jokes, Holocaust jokes and worse. One of the most memorable times was when he was in sixth grade. He was studying for social studies, and at this time he was always wearing his favorite hoodie to school. He was sitting there in a chair in front of one of his best friends and another kid when he felt something rustling in his hood - they had put a note in it so he reached back and grabbed it. He couldn't believe what he found - it was so insulting and mean and ignorant - the very worst antisemitic symbol there is, with the word "Hail" over it. On the other side was a degrading racial slur meant to insult Jewish people that he couldn't even repeat. Reading that note, such a major insult from his best friend, was like a mental and emotional slap in the face. It was so mean-spirited and showed such ignorance and lack of tolerance. Cian was stunned and shocked and really hurt by it. He was so angry and upset and so he reported them to the teacher and gave her the note he had been given. The teacher pulled the kids aside and he saw them yelling and pointing at him and then at each other until finally the teacher just took them both to the principal's office. Nobody saw them again until lunch, and by then the gossip and rumors were going around. A lot of kids had actually heard how those kids had insulted Cian so badly for being Jewish and they apologized and tried to make him feel better. Later he confronted his friend, and told him how disappointed he was that he had been so mean and ignorant, such a bigot, and that it could never happen again. His friend just replied that he thought he might get expelled from school. This was such a surprise to Cian - he didn't want his friend or the other kid expelled, he just wanted them, and everyone to understand how hurtful and insulting it is to put out such anti-semitic garbage. He was betrayed. He told his parents about it and they too were really upset, shocked that their son's close friends could be so close minded and terrible. His friend's mother called them to apologize and said she felt totally embarrassed and ashamed for what her son had done. It didn't make Cian or his parents feel much better about things, but still, none of them wanted these young boys lives ruined over pure ignorance. They actually worked hard to make sure that the boys were NOT expelled, and Cian was really relieved when the school agreed not to. His friend, and other kids, agreed never to do or say such things again, and to try to practice understanding, tolerance, and acceptance. Even with all that happened back then, he still does get antisemitic slurs thrown at him, even from his best friends. One thing that Cian hopes people will learn from his story is that the deliberate insulting or bullying of people just because they are different than you is completely unacceptable, anti semitism included. After all, we are all created equal. Whether you are the former bully or the bystander, we should all stand up to the common threat - ignorance and hatred of any kind. Have you been insulted for your religion? Have you ever been the one doing the insulting?